Contents

Skateboard durability has been increased in Off the Record. This makes the Skateboard a practical weapon and mode of transport in the beginning of the game.

Dynameat no longer gives 1,000 PP per kill with combo card. Instead in Off the Record it gives 500 PP with the combo card.

Snowball Cannon and Super B.F.G. hit detection has been improved in Off the Record. In Dead Rising 2, the Snowball Cannon would lock up and the Super B.F.G. had poor hit detection after being used a few times in the same area.

Zooming with the Sniper Rifle is no longer controlled using the Up and Down Directional pads. Instead, you press Circle to zoom in and X to zoom out much like the camera.

The Snowball Cannon no longer requires a second shot on a frozen zombie to get the PP. Frank can simply destroy the frozen zombie for the PP making it a very useful weapon.

The Blast Frequency Gun doe not make mercenaries vomit anymore. Frank has to knock off their masks to do so. Super B.F.G., however, will kill mercenaries in one shot. In Dead Rising 2, all Super B.F.G. did was make them vomit.

When jumping and getting hit in Dead Rising 2, should Chuck try to do an action, Chuck would not be able to complete the action and Chuck would flinch upon landing. In Off the Record, Frank can still do the action when he gets hit while in the air, but Frank will still flinch when he lands.

Pick Up now harms survivors when zombies are thrown at them. In Dead Rising 2, pick up did not hurt survivors at all making it a great tool for clearing out zombie hordes around survivors.[Verification needed]

Psychopaths now have a damage limiter in Off the Record. Frank can only do a certain amount of damage before his attacks do very, very little damage; regardless of weapon or attack. Frank will have to back off for about two or three seconds before Frank can do the weapons max damage on psychopath.

Chef Antoine Thomas is no longer weak to Burning Skull in Off the Record. In Dead Rising 2, Burning Skull would kill him in five to eight hits.

Damage received from gun attacks are heavier in Off the Record. In Dead Rising 2, Chuck would flinch from first shot that makes contact and the rest of the shots would go through him without damaging him. In Off the Record, every bullet will connect and do damage regardless if Frank is flinching or not. This makes mercenaries more of a threat if ganged up upon or careless.

Taming Snowflake is now easier as the artificial intelligence (A.I.) has improved. In Dead Rising 2, she would randomly decide to either eat the meat on the ground or just run past it and attack Chuck. In Off the Record Snowflake will always take the steak so long as Frank keeps his distance.

Looters can steal Franks weapons and money.

Some Psychopaths can react faster after Frank hits them. In Dead Rising 2, they usually flinch and Chuck had some time to get out of the way. In Off the Record, bosses can quickly hit Frank the second Frank hits them making it really hard to play both safe and strategic. For example, Chef Antoine Thomas and the cowboy psychopath in WWJWD?

When spinning the Big Slot Machine in Slot Ranch Casino or opening the safe in the Yucatan Casino, the winnings are not shared in Co-op. In Dead Rising 2, whatever the host won, the guest would win that amount also.

Shotgun glitch may still work. The shotgun glitch is when Frank or Chuck wields the shotgun while using Wingman, Tesla Ball, Roaring Thunder and other specific combined weapons, the durability lasts almost four times as long.

In Off the Record there is a hit detection bug that can be somewhat of a problem, with psychopath Chuck for example or the mailman in Mail Order Zombrex. When Frank is knocked down he is not as invincible as usual to some attacks. What happens is the psychopath's hitbox is active constantly; almost rapidly and as he hits Frank, he will start losing a mass amount of health. Frank can go from full health to death in a matter of seconds.

Some survivor scoops that Stacey should normally call Frank about - even when the eight survivor rule isn't active - Frank does not get the call. For example, Two's Company is a survivor scoop that Stacey calls Frank about, but Stacey sometimes never calls.

New photo opportunities in a “Buddy Shot”, Frank can grab a zombie from behind and essentially "photo bombs" his own image, snapping a photo of him grinning next to a zombie before he throws him/her aside.[8]

Sandbox Mode also has fully integrated cameras. "In Case West it was in there but it was kind of ‘camera lite.’ This time around we’ve made sure to integrate all the categories - Horror and Brutality and Outtake. Plus of course we had to put in the Erotica category too."[10]

Scare Zombies, rare zombies that when a player walks around a corner or pass over a dead body, they leap out and there is an audio sting at that moment.[14]

A more difficult game, with "A tougher Frank West and a Tougher Fortune City", with more aggressive zombies than those featured in the same city in Dead Rising 2.[15][16] Executive producer Jason Leigh explained, "We’ve upped the zombie density this time around. When we first started showing [Dead Rising 2] at Captivate a couple of years ago, on one level we had 7,000 zombies on the screen. What we found in Dead Rising 2 that was not actually practical in an environment because it was just too dense. This time around, because we made Frank a tougher character right at the beginning and we gave him more cool weapons that do a lot more damage, we actually managed to up the zombie density and have the world be a little more dangerous for him."[17]

Psychopaths have much longer health bars. Also, striking repeated blows on a Psychopath will inflict smaller and smaller amounts of damage until Frank backs away, discouraging the player from constantly staying close and attacking.

Auto saving, a checkpoint system which will have the game save progress after major story points. Including checkpoints right after the player enters a new area and right before the player fights a boss. It is still undecided whether the save system can be turned off.[3][15][9][19][3]

The ability to check the time and set active missions from the map screen, instead of from your wristwatch in the active game environment.[20]

Flashing red "[SURVIVOR] IS TOO FAR AWAY!" message that pops up when an ally is lagging too far behind to "zone" with you into the next environment.[20]

Controls for weapon switching slightly changed, now Frank's weapon will switch upon release of the weapon switch button, instead of as soon as it is pressed. This is to work with some of his new skill moves.

Trophies/Achievements are easier to earn. "There’s still going to be some tough challenges in there. There’s one or two that are relatively tough, just because we didn’t want it to be a cakewalk. Overall though, I think people are going to find it a little easier to get all the trophies."[10]

Returning from previous games

All the original fighting skills from Dead Rising are available in Off the Record, plus new unique skills which Chuck did not have before, such as "Bruiser Frank West style wrestling moves".

TK will return as the final boss.

Overtime has returned.

Different endings. "It’s still the convention of a sandbox on a clock. All of the Dead Rising games so far have branch points where if you do it a certain way you get a certain ending. There is replayability where is players try things a slightly different way they may find a different ending."

↑Quote from Jason Leigh, executive producer of Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off The Record in MTV article.

↑ abcDestructoid: Listening to fans and critics was key in helping the team build Off the Record...The save system...has been further improved...A checkpoint system...which will have the game save progress after major story points, after fighting off the game's psychopath sub-bosses and upon loading into a new area...load times...have been reduced...

↑Ryan King, Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Interview, Now Gamer, (June 17, 2011). Interview with Capcom Executive Producer Jason Leigh. "One great idea which came from the Capcom Japan guys was the notion of a scare zombies. We’ve got them in the demo. They don’t show up very often because they’re tuned to the point where they’re quite rare so if you come around the corner or when you pass over a dead body, they leap out and there’s an audio sting at that point. If you’re playing the game with quiet, not like at E3, it can be quite frightening. That’s been an idea that’s come from them."